How can construction clients benefit from better IT?

Do construction clients always know what they want and how best can their projects, and business, benefit from better use of modern technologies? Inevitably, clients are in the driving seat and can, with the right knowledge behind them, push forward the use of these technologies throughout the industry. The following highlights a few new technologies most likely to benefit clients whether used internally or on a construction project.

IT solution selection – the basics

The worst, but unfortunately also the most frequent, approach is to assume that all new IT solutions are a good thing and will bring benefits. So a random selection of products is made based on the most persuasive sales pitch and a final purchase often made on the basis of a promise of unspecified enhancement of activities or processes. So is there a better way? All potential purchasers of IT solutions should:

1. Draw up a well-researched shopping list

2. Analyse needs and areas of the business that could be improved

3. Identify a final goal – what does the organisation want to achieve from the new
IT investment: quality, efficiency or value for money?

4. Assess possible cost savings against time expectations

So,where should clients look first for new IT implementation?

Communication and transparency on construction projects
Project extranets (project collaboration tools), as a central repository for project information, data and correspondence, provide a platform to share and develop project-related information and drawings. However there are many systems on the market with, it seems, little to differentiate them. The choice of system should depend on ease of use, security, helpdesk and training provisions, pricing structure and the fit between project size and extranet capabilities.

Fairer and faster tendering
Online tendering is a cost-effective, web-based solution for submitting tenders. It integrates online collaborative technologies with procurement automation to enable purchasing teams to compile detailed tender documents and simultaneously invite tender submissions online, by a specified close date. This solution enables authorised contractors to download tender information and upload tenders to a secure location on the client’s server - an online safe deposit box - in a format which is easily comparable. The exchange, management and accuracy of information can be improved throughout the tendering and quotation process. Also time can be saved by cutting out low-value administration such as faxes, phone calls and travelling.

Sharing and creating knowledge
Knowledge management is now recognised as a core skill of any successful construction organisation. There are many drivers for knowledge management, including the need to learn from past experience, the need to retain key staff and their skills, and the need to become more efficient at delivering value to the client or end-user. Many technology solutions have been designed to support these.

1. Groupware - software specifically designed for groups of people to share
information and to coordinate their activities over a computer network.

2. An intranet is a private Internet. Internet-type services are installed onto an
organisation’s internal computer network which enables it to provide web pages
and related services such as e-mail, discussion boards, access to shared
documents and databases, and collaboration tools such as shared calendars and
project management tools. An intranet can convey information in many forms, not
just web pages but documents, tables, spreadsheets and images; it can host
applications and databases.

3. Discussion boards - also known as message boards, bulletin boards or chat
rooms, give people the ability to post and reply to messages in a common area.
Sometimes these boards will be moderated by a leader or facilitator. Their
purpose is to provide an informal meeting place a bit like a café.

4. E-learning tools - deliver learning and training to people electronically at
their desktop. There is a wide variety of tools and technologies available to
support e-learning, many of which include facilities for learners in different
locations to work together on assignments, case studies and projects.

As well as technologies designed to enable the sharing of knowledge, there is an increasing number of tools aimed at supporting the creation of knowledge and the generation of information and knowledge from data, such as data mining, decision trees and root cause analysis.

A good IT solution is built and implemented around people. Any proposed IT system must effectively recognise the primary mechanisms by which workers “work,” and build technology solutions to leverage those processes. Achieving the best mix of technologies will be a combination of using existing technologies, upgrading them where appropriate and acquiring new technologies when required. Construction clients can provide an educated and informed drive to help achieve these in any construction project.